Have we done something wrong, I wonder. As the latest in a seemingly endless procession of depressions heads unerringly for Ireland it sometimes seems as if Addison's premonition has come true, that . . .
an angel by Divine command
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land . . .
And pleased th' Almighty's orders to perform
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm. But then February is often a very stormy month. Many readers will recall, for example, the violent storm of February 9th, 1988, which caused widespread damage and several deaths.
And a reminder of even more severe weather on the same date can be found on the East Pier at Dun Laoghaire, where a memorial tells us of a tragedy that occurred on February 9th, 1861; six men from the Ajax perished in a gallant effort to save the crew of the Neptune, , another ship that ultimately sank with the loss of all on board.
Yet another example of mid-February's ire occurred on St Valentine's Day, 1853, when the sailing ship Victoria was wrecked near Howth Head during a violent blizzard, and 55 passengers and crew were drowned.
But none of these storms was on a par with that of the night of February 26th and 27th 1903, perhaps the most severe in Irish history, when 4,000 trees were uprooted on an estate near Kilkenny, 2,000 in Birr, and a similar number of valuable elms were laid low in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.
As one might infer from these tales of woe and tragedy, a vigorous storm or two is only to be expected at this time of year. The atmosphere in the northern hemisphere is at its most energetic around now, because the temperature contrast between the equator and the poles is greatest.
The interaction between the very cold air to the north and the warmer air further south provides the stimulus for the development of deep depressions which sweep across the Atlantic and now and then wreak havoc on our shores.
Deep lows in the North Atlantic really only become noteworthy as far as we in these islands are concerned if they pass close enough for their strong winds to interfere with us, and their preferred path varies with the seasons.
During the summer months the lows tend for the most part to follow a track that takes them well to the north of Ireland, which partly accounts for the fact that storms are less frequent in the summertime; but in wintertime the guiding angel steers the whirlwinds very close to Ireland - so February storms are not a rarity.